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Wednesday, May 23
Cincy's Little wastes his opportunity
By Bill Koch
Scripps Howard News Services
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CINCINNATI – Think about all the kids you've known who would have
done anything for the chance to play Division I college basketball, even if it meant walking on and paying their own way, but just weren't quite good enough.
Maybe they were decent players on their high school team, but were
too short or too slow or didn't shoot well enough to advance to the
top collegiate level.
Maybe you were one of those kids yourself.
Now consider the sad case of Donald Little, the 6-11 center who was
dismissed from the University of Cincinnati basketball team last
weekend for conduct detrimental to the program.
The dismissal occurred in the wake of Little's arrest early Saturday morning on I-75 near Florence, Ky., for speeding in a work zone, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended license and possession of marijuana.
Little was also arrested late Monday on an assault warrant in a May
3 attack on a female manager at a local tavern. He allegedly kicked
the women in the abdomen and punched a male bartender. He was expected
to appear in court Tuesday.
Since announcing the dismissal, Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins and athletic director Bob Goin have both declined comment on Little, as if they wish everyone would forget about this and go about their business.
Eventually, that's what will happen. Huggins will find someone else
to fill the roster spot and Little will be left to ponder the opportunity he has thrown away and the talent he didn't value enough to use wisely.
It seemed everyone except Little himself understood how good he could be if he would develop the work ethic and discipline that made Kenyon Martin the NBA's top draft choice last year.
"That's a good comparison," said Larry Cox, the men's basketball
coach at Division III Mount St. Joseph. "I don't know that Kenyon
Martin as a sophomore was any better than Donald Little was, but he
had the maturity and the mental toughness."
Little's strength was blocking shots, but he was also a potential low-post scoring force and dominant rebounder.
"To see a player not make the true commitment and put forth the effort and not have the discipline to really work at it is very disheartening," said Northern Kentucky University coach Kenny Shields. "There are so many out there who would give their eyeteeth for that opportunity."
As the coach at a Division II program that competes successfully on
a national level, Shields is not averse to giving troubled players from Division I programs a second chance. Certainly Little's size and athleticism would make him attractive to some D-II schools. But not for Shields.
"I wouldn't take a chance on him myself," Shields said. "But in
our conference, I can think of a couple of schools that would."
That may be a moot point. Little would not be eligible to play at an NCAA Division II school next year if he were dismissed from UC for disciplinary reasons. It's the same at a Division III school.
Assuming Little is still interested in playing basketball, he could
play at an NAIA school, where the eligibility rules are more relaxed.
"I don't doubt that he'll resurface somewhere," Cox said.
There's an outside chance that Little could land a job playing overseas or with an International Basketball League team. But those options might also be beyond his reach.
"`He needed these years to develop those skills," Shields said. "That's a better brand of ball than people think."
Ultimately, Little has probably squandered a chance at a professional basketball career as well as the priceless commodity of a college education. Only he knows why he regarded both with such apparent contempt.
"He had a lot of potential," Shields said. "He certainly shot
himself in the foot with what's happened."
What a waste.
(Contact Bill Koch of the Cincinnati Post at
http://www.cincypost.com.)
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